The weather office on Tuesday launched an application that enables smartphone and tablet computer users access near-real time weather-related information in Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai.

The 'Indian-weather' app can be downloaded free of cost from Google Play.

"India Meteorological Department's (IMD) forecast of major cities of the country around four metros for next four days along with updated current weather observations would be available through the application," Earth Sciences Minister S Jaipal Reddy said.

During next 8-10 months, the application would cover a range of products including weather bulletins, alerts for significant events and agromet advisories, he said.

Noting that location-specific weather information and forecast were already available on the IMD website, he said the new application was thought of considering that there were a lot of people who had access to smartphones rather than to computers.

Speaking at a function to commemorate the 138th foundation day of the IMD, Reddy urged scientists to make further efforts for more precise prediction, particularly for severe weather phenomenon.

On this occasion, Reddy also felicitated former IMD Director General R R Kelkar. The minister also released three publications of IMD.